Apple’s New Multi-Touch Patent Evokes Audio Possibilities

Posted on Nov 22, 2007

Apple, who has been filing numerous multi-touch patent applications to seemingly corner the market, has recently applied for a brand new multi-touch system with a new “sensor that identifies hand parts.”

The “hand part” filing could have major ramifications for the audio industry as laptop screens become an audio environment. Think the JazzMutant Dexter integrated into your laptop’s screen. The patent, one of three applied for in this filing alone, will also allow for simultaneous tracking of “multiple finger and palm contacts [for] unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting.” And mixing??

The new patents add fuel to the rumors of an Apple sub-notebook/tablet computer that could make its debut at MacWorld in January especially since one of the patents outline a “pen grip detector,” which allows for handwriting detection.